WTF! is luck personified! With both Cindy and Margo taking a temporary break from hosting... CHANGES will be in the air on Friday, May 27th as we welcome back perennial favourite... Mr. VINCE MORASH.

Most of us know Vince as a prolific singer-songwriter with a gift for songs that truly reflect everyday life. Like the minstrels of old... Vince has travelled from his birthplace in the iconic fishing village of Peggy's Cove all across this great country meeting and greeting and turning his experiences into songs that showcase his unique perspective on the people and the place. Within his huge collection of original songs, you will find everything from the challenges of making a living as a fisherman to the everyday struggles of more land locked folks like donut shop servers.

WTF! is thrilled to turn the evening over to this wonderful wordsmith and purveyor of unrestrained spontaneous wit. Be prepared to hear some fine music and have your funny bone tickled to boot :)

Phil Ochs wrote:

Sit by my side, come as close as the air

And share in a memory of gray

And wander in my words

Dream about the pictures that I play of changes

He could have been speaking about Vince. Come to think of it...

... an introduction by the legendary Phil Ochs beats anything else I could say all to heck :)

Moments of magic will glow in the night....

Xo Margo

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WTF! is an artistic outreach program of the Helen Creighton Folklore Society. Now in its 7th year, WTF! is primarily an acoustic unplugged open-mike session for performers of all ages in the traditional & folk music vein... singers, instrumentalists and storytellers in particular.

Co-hosted by the ever-jovial Cindy Campbell-Stone & Margo Carruthers with occasional guest hosts, WTF! meets every second and fourth Friday of the month at Spencer House Community Centre, 5596 Morris Street in Halifax where sing-a-longs are known to spontaneously erupt and laughter is always a given.

Come anytime after 6:30pm. Entertainment starts around 7:00 and goes until 9:00ish. As always... admission is by free-will donation towards the Society's work. All proceeds from the sale of baked goods and beverages from the Spencer House kitchen will go to help support the operation of Spencer House.

Parking is available on site behind the building after 6:00pm, and on all the neighbouring streets.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Time flies! Be sure to set your clocks for 6:30 p.m. on the evening of Friday May 13th. You don't want to be delayed when WTF! shines its spotlight on songs and stories utilizing NUMBERS or on anything related to NUMBERS. Count your lucky stars that you are among the chosen few to be invited as WTF! travels through time & space. It's a real NUMBERS game and it's all adding up.

For example: Consider songs utilizing NUMBERS in their titles like The 3 Ravens and 500 Miles [trad], or more contemporary ones like When I'm 64 [Beatles], Workin' 9 to 5 [Dolly Parton] and for the more adventurous... 2 Out of 3 Ain't Bad [Meatloaf]. And there are those with NUMBERS within like Gordon Lightfoot's Early Morning Rain with its 707 set to go or if you prefer train travel... Steve Goodman's City of New Orleans with its 15 cars and 15 restless riders, 3 conductors and 25 sacks of mail.

And in local folklore... Helen Creighton's BLUENOSE GHOSTS cites the following NUMBERS under Superstitions: Good and Bad.

One crow sorrow... Two crows joy...

Three crows a wedding... Four crows a boy...

Five crows sixpence... Six crows gold...

Seven crows... [whispering] a secret that's never been told.

Sounds ominous or... maybe it's not. Maybe the secret involves the lucky number 7. Did you know that the seventh son of a seventh son was said to have magical powers or the second sight? I would think that the second sight would come in handy if you were to ride a Bicycle Built For Two all by yourself :)

We all know that H2O is necessary for life but if you sail the salty H2O of the 7 seas... never set sail on a Friday. It's most unlucky! And there's an old superstition that says that if you hear 3 knocks in a row that seemingly have no cause... it's a forerunner foretelling that someone you know will die. Last night there were Four Marys... tonight there'll be but 3 :(

Have you ever considered why the number 3 is so prevalent in folktales? Aside from stories requiring a beginning, a middle and an end there is much more to consider.* And in Japanese culture, the number 4 is unlucky because it is sometimes pronounced shi, which is the word for death... [Gasp!] ...which brings me to the poor much maligned number 13.

I decided that with Friday being the 13th... we had best steer clear of that one lest we find ourselves 6 feet under :)

Xo Margo.

* For those of you academic types looking for more information on NUMBER symbolism and the cultural associations of some numbers, let me recommend a visit to:

http://www.britannica.com/topic/number-symbolism#toc248160

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WTF! is an artistic outreach program of the Helen Creighton Folklore Society. Now in its 7th year, WTF! is primarily an acoustic unplugged open-mike session for performers of all ages in the traditional & folk music vein... singers, instrumentalists and storytellers in particular.

Co-hosted by the ever-jovial Cindy Campbell-Stone & Margo Carruthers with occasional guest hosts, WTF! meets every second and fourth Friday of the month at Spencer House Community Centre, 5596 Morris Street in Halifax where sing-a-longs are known to spontaneously erupt and laughter is always a given.

Come anytime after 6:30pm. Entertainment starts around 7:00 and goes until 9:00ish. As always... admission is by free-will donation towards the Society's work. All proceeds from the sale of baked goods and beverages from the Spencer House kitchen will go to help support the operation of Spencer House.

Parking is available on site behind the building after 6:00pm, and on all the neighbouring streets.